Detroit Astronomical Society Newsletter JULY/AUGUST/1990 FROM THE PRESIDENT Looks like we have another new comet, Comet 1990 c, discovered by David Levy and based on IAU Circular 5030. Comet Levy could become a 3rd magnitude object by September. This could be better than Comet Austin, but remember that comet magnitudes are notoriously unpredictable. There are a lot of astronomy conferences and observing sessions going on in the next couple of months so pick one and attend. After you attend, write a short article about it and send it to the editor for the next issue. Because of summer vacations and astronomy related events we will be meeting only once per month. Those of you interested in the 1991 eclipse and would like a more technical report can send to the Navel Observatory for: United States Navel Observatory Circular no. 174; Total Solar Eclipse of July 11, 1991; Eclipse Circulars; U.S. Navel Observatory; Washington, DC 20392. I already received mine. It takes about 2-3 weeks and it is well worth a stamp. Its your tax dollars and its one time they are well spent. While we are on the subject of eclipses, I was contacted by a past member who was on the March 7, 1970 eclipse tour with the DAS in Florida. He would like to obtain photographs and slides of the eclipse. He is also willing to pay for the cost of duplication and sending of the photos. Anyone having information on the March 1970 eclipse, send it to: James Trombley, 904 W. Rochelle #209, Irving, Texas 75062 or call 1-214-252-3678. For updates on DAS activities and events, call the Skywatchers Hotline at 837-0130. Clear Skies! Jack Brisbin MEETING DATES Friday July 13, 1990 Board of Directors 7:00 pm - 7:45 pm, General Meeting 7:45 pm • 8:30 pm Friday August 3, 1990 Board of Directors 7:00 pm - 7:45 pm, General Meeting 7:45 pm • 8:30 pm It is anticipated that by July the Crowell Recreation Center will have its operating hours reduced to 12:00 (noon) until 8: 30 pm during the summer months, due to budget cutbacks. MEMBERSHIP INTEREST The Astronomy Day Event at the Seven Ponds Recreation Area turned out to be a reasonable gathering of participants. The indoor program featured talks by Chris Bayus and Richard Walker of the Genesee Astronomical Society. After John Lines briefing and introductions, Chris Bayus spoke of proper exposure techniques in astrophotography while Richard Walker spoke of occultations and procedures• Later on in the evening, the skies did clear up about 75% for the observing session where light pollution was no problem. The Seven Ponds facility has a fine auditorium for lectures and after that session, we took a break for a snack in an adjoining classroom. It was well worth the hour spent to get there. 2 The scheduled observing session at Eagle Point which is in the E.M. Warwick Conservation Center was a cancelled disappointment for me because of the heavy overcast and rainy weather. I'm sure no one else could have gone there or did they? One would have to have extremely high hopes for the weather to clear for observing under those conditions. I wasn't able to make it to the Astroganza in East Lansing so I can't give a report on that event with the exception that the Warren Club did win the first prize in the Star Bowl competition which was a quiz contest. Congratulations to the Warren Club. The 20th Apollo Rendezvous and Telescope Fair had four of our members attending this year. Bob Blanchard, Charles Watson and Frank Lipke were all winners of door prizes and Charlies son Todd was also a winner. That turned out to be a very good percentage of winners for the DAS. Besides the usual displays, the telescope fair had three very fine telescopes on display among the half a dozen or so. There was a fork mounted Newtonian which I thought was very professional. A 20" Newtonian with the classical Dobsonian mount used by amateurs also displayed fine workmanship as did a Schiefspiegler. The latter scope has a very long focal ratio and an unobstructed light path which gives it the ability to give very sharp images. It is primarily used for lunar and planetary observing. The principle speaker was Alan Dyar, an associate editor of Astronomy magazine. He gave a talk on how the magazine is put together and on amateur astronomy in general. The temporary facility at the Northridge High School was totally adequate for space and the auditorium was extremely comfortable because of the soft cushioned seats although it was a bit large for the event. They could possibly hold the Apollo event at this same facility next year. Take special note of the plan for SMURFS which is scheduled for August 17th and 18th. This is a good idea for all the local clubs to get together and have an amateur mini-conference of our own. A letter explaining all the details follows on page 6 . A reproduction of IAU Circular #5030 with the ephemeris for Comet Levy is provided on page 7 for the months of July and August. The first convention I have data on is ALCON 90 and its a big one involving three organizations. The Astronomical League, The Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers and the host organization, The Saint Louis Astronomical Society. This is a five day event from July 31 through August 4. It is too late for the mail order advance registration which ends July lst. Late registration is $35.00 per person or $7.50 per day for an abbreviated stay. Washington University is the site of the convention which is in Saint Louis. Besides the usual schedule of events; ALCON has put together a number of sight seeing trips and tours of various institutions around the city. If you are interested in going to Canada, the North York Astronomical Association is sponsoring STARFEST 90 at River Place near Mt. Forest which is located just south of the 44 latitude at about the 80° 43" longitude which I would estimate to be about 200 miles from Detroit. This event is scheduled for August 17th to the 19th. Registration fee before August 1st is $25.00 and $35.00 after. Spouse and children under 16 free. Camping facilities are available. Normal, Illinois is the site of the Astronomy Rendezvous and Conference 1990 sponsored by the Twin Cities Amateur Astronomers on August 24th and 25th at Illinois State University. Normal is about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. Advance registration fee is $14.00 with $9.00 for the spouse and high school students. Registration on location is same except for loss of a meal privilege. Mansfield, Ohio is the site of HIDDEN HOLLOW 90 sponsored by the Richland Astronomical Society. See their 31", f/7 Newtonian telescope which is one of the largest available to amateur astronomers. This event takes place on October l9th and 2Oth. Anyone interested in any of the above events can contact me for a copy of the brochures. Open House at Peach Mountain: Public star parties are held at Peach Mountain in Ann Arbor. Scheduled dates are July 21th and August 18th. They are cancelled if it is cloudy at sunset. For further information call Paul Etzler at 434-2574. From Shallow Sky Bulletin: Editors of Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines have been honored by having asteroids named for them. The April 10th MPC batch lists (3617) Eicher, (3637) O'Meara, (3684) Berry, (3706) Sinnott, (3819) Robinson and (3841) di Cicco. "Exlporing Space" is the title of a special issue of "Scientific American" with 15 articles about recent space probe discoveries. This should be of special interest. I just heard over the news of the problem with the Hubble Space Telescopes secondary mirror? This is certainly bad news for us cosmologists. How could they let something like that go without thoroughly inspecting it on the ground? This will certainly affect the very deep space observing the most. In the New York Times science section of the April 3rd issue, appeared an article about an automated device for sweeping the heavens for supernovas. It is expected to find a supernova about once every two weeks. This device plus the one for removing the twinkling of starlight for ground observatories are a couple of advances for astronomy. Looks like these devices will be a big help for automating astronomy which will gather much more information for study and evaluation. Lets welcome new members Marc Alexander, Martin Ivan, Ben Kid, Harold Thomason and Sharon Trigilio. There are now two categories of membership, with and without Sky & Telescope. Regular membership dues without Sky & Tel. are $18.00 per year. With Sky & Tel., the regular is $32.50 per year. Junior is $22.50 per year and family $37. 50 per year. Sky & Tel. is $2.95 per copy at the magazine shop or $35.40 per year. The membership with Sky & Tel. is still the best deal. Members should also include the Sky & Tel. renewal card with their dues. Mail to: John Lines, Treasurer; 2795 Mercury Dr.; Lake Orion, MI 48035. I'd like to apologize for the inverted pages in the previous newsletter. Seems like the printer had some new hired help. OBSERVATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS July 3 15UT Venus 4 • N of Aldebaran 5 02 Moon passes 0.2° N of Antares 7 09 Moon passes 2° S of Uranus 20 Moon passes 30 S of Neptune 8 Capricornid Meteors These meteors peak on four different days.